SHARPER - The European Researchers' Night

Friday, 25th September 2015, in Anconaat 5 p.m. , the foundation, ‘Fondazione G. Fedrigoni ISTOCARTA’ took part in “SHARPER – European Researchers’ night”, an initiative promoted by the European commission which focuses on breaching the gap between the research-world and ordinary man-in-the-street. Starting from the afternoon till late at night, over 150 research-workers from the ‘Università Politecnica delle Marche’ were the leading role-players between piazza Roma and Corso Garibaldi, of a rich programme full of events, whose goals are the dissemination of scientific culture amongst the public. ISTOCARTA is to actively take part in the event with a stand, set up in cooperation with the Department of economic and social sciences (DiSES), which proposed to the visitor, a journey a backwards in time, to acquaint him with the history of paper. The participation to the event, fitted in with a convention stipulated between ISTOCARTA and the ‘Università Politecnica delle Marche’ which aims at acquiring funds for a research-project focusing on the first commercial expansion of the paper-mill ‘Cartiere Miliani’ in Fabriano between XVIII and XIX century. The study , which is still in progress, bases itself on a detailed analysis of the precious letter-books pertaining to the founder of the paper-mill ‘Pietro Miliani’, which trace back starting from 1783 and which have been preserved in the Historical Archive of the paper-mill ‘Miliani’ in Fabriano, head-offices of ISTOCARTA and first enterprise archive to acquire recognition worth “notable historical interest” in Italy (20th July 1964). A little over four months from the beginning of the research-work, over 2.000 letters have been catalogued in an ad hoc database, and a large quantity of inedited news has emerged since, which permit us to reconstruct the technical and economic activity of the paper-mill, as well as the most important international commercial relations, further to relations built by Pietro Miliani with high-ranking celebrities of the time (amongst others, Canova, Rosaspina, Bodoni, Monaldo Leopardi). During the course of the European Researchers' Night, Doc.Marianna Astore, research-associate of the Department ‘ Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali’, illustrated her research-work and the stand was transformed into a small “paper-mill”, where it was possible to attend the production of handmade-paper during Pietro Miliani’s era. Furthermore, there was an exhibition of “Historical Paper Heritage”, which is part of the enormous scientific and technological heritage inherited by the paper-mill of Fabriano and which is now preserved and managed by ISTOCARTA. For further information, consult, www.nottedeiricercatori.it.